The Media Accountability Project  

"As a public broadcaster, CityNews has a responsibility to provide fair, accurate, and comprehensive reporting. For future coverage, I demand that you include detailed accounts of the devastating impacts these raids have on Palestinian civilians. You must also provide balanced reporting that critically examines claims made by the Israeli military and include Palestinian voices."

"Hezbollah’s capabilities, while destructive, pale in comparison. Israel has caused immeasurable suffering to all of Lebanon, not just Hezbollah militants. The absence of this context reinforces a narrative that solely focuses on Hezbollah’s actions while overlooking the long-standing history of Israeli military aggression in Lebanon."

"While I don’t expect the Gazette to include all of this context in their reporting, I do insist that your newsroom tries to avoid perpetuating harmful and reductive narratives that present Palestinians and their supporters as ‘threats,’ while portraying pro-Israel groups as more defensive and self-preserving."

"If you’re trying to please all the different voices that have opinions on this conflict, your report struck the perfect tone.  If you’re trying to do good journalism, you have fallen far short."

"For Western media to join Israeli and United States spokespeople in playing confused on an Israeli bombing seen and understood across the world is socially catastrophic: it drives a wedge between thinking people internationally and the followers of a he-said/she-said information warfare operation that degrades the credibility of all who entertain it."

"It is not enough to bury at the end of your article a reminder that “Ben-Gvir hung a portrait in his living room of a Jewish man who fatally shot 29 Palestinians in the West Bank in 1994.” The order, emphasis, and human texture of your material needs to reflect the facts."

"Failing to provide an authoritative Palestinian perspective or source results in a whitewash of the Israeli military’s policy and actions in Jenin. Residents of the Jenin refugee camp would disagree in describing the invasion as “targeted” as many described their homes being turned into military posts and barracks, and the theft and the destruction of their personal possessions."

"Corroborative statements from multiple reputed international bodies also lend legitimacy to the narrative that Palestinians living in the West Bank are victims of a brutal, decades-long military occupation. For this reason, it was inappropriate to include the claim that “Israel ensures that humanitarian assistance is provided and does not apply any limitation on access for medical staff” in your article, when it has been shown that not only is the Israeli military failing to ensure the provision of such assistance, but is instead actively hampering its delivery."

On April 5, 2023, a CBC Radio segment properly referred to Gaza as “occupied.” However, after pressure from the pro-Israel lobby group Honest Reporting Canada, the next day CBC issued an on-air ‘correction’ erroneously stating: “Last night, we made a reference to the Gaza Strip being ‘occupied.’ The territory is not occupied, but rather has its borders controlled by Israel and Egypt.” A similar text was also posted online, claiming that “Gaza is not occupied.”

CJPME responded to this false ‘correction’ by sending a letter to CBC arguing that they presented a statement of opinion as a statement of fact; Gaza is in fact considered “occupied territory” by the UN, human rights groups and the humanitarian sector, including Human Rights Watch and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Additionally, Michael Lynk, former UN Special Rapporteur, also sent a letter to CBC writing that, “Under international law, this degree of control exercised by Israel since 2005 is sufficient to conclude that Israel remains the occupying power over Gaza.”

As a result of CJPME’s complaint, on April 14, 2023, CBC walked back its on-air ‘correction’ by updating the text on its website to:

On April 5, 2023, CBC Radio referred to the Gaza Strip being occupied. While Israel continues to control most of the flow of people and goods into and out of the Gaza strip, which to some analysts constitutes a continued occupation, it ended its permanent military presence there in 2005. An on-air clarification was broadcast April 6, and this clarification note was published to specify that Israel doesn't consider Gaza to be occupied. This clarification note has since been updated to describe Gaza's status more precisely.

While this update includes a far more accurate description of Gaza’s legal status, several issues remain. CJPME sent a follow-up letter to CBC highlighting that the phrasing of “some analysts” significantly downplays the fact that this position is held by the international community. While this correction is an improvement to the original one, it still fails to correctly label Gaza as an occupied territory and Israel as an occupying power. CJPME is requesting that CBC update its language on Gaza to properly reflect international consensus and to align with CBC’s reporting on the status of the occupied West Bank.

I first want to acknowledge CBC’s prompt efforts in correcting what had been a factual error. Whereas a previous ‘correction’ had erroneously stated as fact that the Gaza Strip is “not occupied,” the updated text on the public tracking page has a far more accurate description of  Gaza’s legal status. However, there are still issues with how this status is represented, as the text uses a “both sides” framing while minimizing the authority of those who say that Gaza is occupied.